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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A Girl and Her Shoes

I’ll be honest, I love shoes, but really, what female doesn’t?!? Which leads me to the first and what I believe is one of the most important elements a newbie needs to know, the shoes you run in matter. Shoes can make or break a new runner.

When I first started running, I made the mistake that many new female runners make, I went to the shoes section at the local big sports equipment store, went to the running section and picked out the cutest pair of running shoes I saw. I tried them on, they felt great and I walked out the door with a new pair of shoes (they were pink). I spent my first two weeks of running in those shoes and honestly, they felt fine, but the rest of my body didn’t. I knew there would be some discomfort from starting a new physical activity, but I was really hurting. My back hurt, my knees hurt, my ankles hurt and even my neck hurt. The only thing that didn’t hurt was my feet. I called my sister-in-law and she declared it was my shoes. I didn’t believe her. The next time I visited, she took a look at my running form and the wear on my everyday shoes and announced that I underpronate. She recommended the Asics Cumulus to me.

To make a long story short, I ran in Asics Cumulus 11 till they needed to be replaced and then I got Asics Cumulus 12. They were a great shoe for me.

So if you don’t happen to have an awesome sister-in-law that used to sell shoes and is now a physical therapist, then I suggest you go to your local running specialty store. Many running specialty stores will have treadmills that you can run on and get your form examined by trained employees. The employees are usually more than happy to help newbies find the right type of shoe and get them off to a good positive start.

Sorry girls, the shoes that work for you aren’t always going to be the cute ones.